The present invention relates to representing data structures.
Generally, a data structure articulates the relationships between data objects. Some data structures are represented as hierarchies in which nodes represent data objects and connections between the nodes represent the relationships between the data objects. One type of hierarchy is a tree hierarchy in which there is a root data object from which other data objects branch. Another type of hierarchy is a network hierarchy in which there need not be a root data object. These representations are usually, but need not be, graphical in nature. Whether graphical or not, these representations will be referred to as tree representations. Alternatively, some data structures are represented as paths that connect a first data object to a second data object. These paths describe the figurative route traversed from the first data object to the second data object. Such a path representation will be referred to as a breadcrumb representation.